Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!-Chapter 97 - 96: Family and Responsibility

Do you want to draw a little more?

As he said this, Li Minglu shrank back.

Nan Zhubin’s eyes narrowed.

At the same time, a word flashed in his mind — [Inadequacy].

[Inadequacy] is a significant symptom of depression, where a patient feels unworthy of others’ care, leading to guilt, which worsens the condition.

It’s often said not to indiscriminately show care to depression patients, and this is an important reason.

Due to this [Inadequacy], people often react in two ways:

First, they build a strong defense mechanism, rejecting any help from others.

Second, they overly give to others, allowing themselves to be depleted more than they gain, to lessen the unease of receiving help.

But Li Minglu’s [Inadequacy] seemed too intense at this moment.

Faced with Nan Zhubin’s consultation, Li Minglu was overly cooperative, even proactively extending the effort in various ways.

It seemed like he considered Nan Zhubin’s consultation as another form of "help" he was undeserving of.

[Although inadequacy typically triggers two kinds of reactions, depression patients usually only exhibit defense, as they lack the energy to develop a tendency to "overly give to others" from scratch.]

[So... was Li Minglu’s inadequacy present before the illness?]

[Could this even be one of the causes of his illness?]

The consultant seemed to be onto something.

Nan Zhubin was already adept at multitasking, mentally noting and analyzing Li Minglu’s reactions while continuing the [House Tree Person Drawing test] with him.

"No, there’s no need to add more. The painting is now at its best," Nan Zhubin said with a smile.

Then Nan Zhubin slightly adjusted the painting’s angle.

When the House Tree Person Drawing was just completed, Li Minglu had adjusted the painting so it was facing Nan Zhubin directly.

Now, Nan Zhubin adjusted it back, letting Li Minglu face everything on the canvas.

The subject had already externalized his subconscious, and he now needed to confront it.

"What is this house?" Nan Zhubin pointed to the center of the painting.

"Home," Li Minglu answered concisely.

"What’s inside the home?"

Li Minglu pursed his lips and pointed to the house, although large, but with tightly shut doors and windows, lifeless:

"My son, daughter, and wife."

Nan Zhubin nodded understandingly and then pointed to the small tree on the right: "What about this tree, does it have a species?"

"...No."

"So it’s a completely imaginary work. I see it has beautiful bark and solid roots. Are there any other characteristics? Like flowers or fruits?"

Li Minglu pondered for a while, taking a long time.

This consultation had lasted almost fifty minutes, and such a prolonged exchange and reflection seemed to be quite exhausting for him.

"Actually, when drawing it, I didn’t intentionally design the bark and roots... so as for flowers and fruits, there probably aren’t any."

Nan Zhubin nodded in understanding, confirming his assumptions.

...

Choosing the House Tree Person test for an artist inherently contains some extra variables. Nan Zhubin wasn’t sure if Li Minglu had any unusual drawing muscle memory, like habitually making things extraordinarily vibrant.

Such professional habits could possibly skew the results.

But now, since Li Minglu was in a state of rejecting drawing and his creations lacked any artistic intent, reflecting pure subconscious responses,

Li Minglu’s identity as an artist was actually a help, as his drawing expression was more direct.

Now, focusing on this tree for analysis—

In the [House Tree Person] test, the "tree" represents vitality; meanwhile, the "bark" reflects "emotional sensitivity" to some extent, and the "roots" indicate "past trauma."

This judgment method is not absolute, but it can guide Nan Zhubin’s conjectures and subsequent consultations.

Similarly, the "house" serves this purpose as well.

...

Finally, Nan Zhubin pointed to the stick figure.

"And him, does this little person have any creative intent?"

"That’s me, about to go to work," Li Minglu replied.

"Is it you?"

"Yes," Li Minglu said, "This is my painting, with a little person on it... it seems it can only be me."

Looking at the exceptionally small, simple, and comically lined figure, Li Minglu’s gaze was somewhat helpless.

"Then what are you doing in the painting?"

"Working, or rather... on the way to work,"

"I remember you’re an artist? Do you have your own studio outside?"

"No... my studio is at home. My wife set up a studio for me."

"It seems she supports your work a lot."

Nan Zhubin paused, then used the integrated information to pose the first aggressive question of the consultation:

"But if that’s the case — why do you have to leave home for work?"

The topic hit a wall.

Nan Zhubin could see Li Minglu’s shoulder blades start to contract, pulled tightly towards the center to protect his chest and abdomen.

In other words, a strong defense.

[And the trigger for the defense — "wife"?]

For a depression patient, Nan Zhubin didn’t want to push too much.

Especially in this first consultation.

Now that Li Minglu had activated his defenses, it was wise to stop here, analyze the information available, and plan for further sessions.

Nan Zhubin made a show of flipping through the materials in hand, preparing the closing summary.

"From previous consultants’ summaries about you, I found your stress mainly comes from work. Even though you’re currently fighting against negative emotions, and your work is one of the sources of those emotions, you’re still painting, right?"

"Yes... because I have to support my family."

"So you’re someone with a strong sense of family responsibility, which I greatly admire," Nan Zhubin added a touch of personal expression amid Positive Attention.

"If I have a family one day, I hope to have the same commitment as you."

Li Minglu once again contracted his shoulder blades, showing strong defense and discomfort to the compliment.

But after that contraction, his shoulders soon relaxed.

A sign of feeling supported.

"Today’s consultation, being our first try, is a mutual selection process. I already have a sufficient understanding of your situation, and specific interventions need planning; if you choose to continue with our consultation center, we can discuss more before the next session."

"Also, I noticed your spouse — it should be your wife, right? — is here as well. Can I have a brief chat with her later?"

Li Minglu nodded: "Okay. In fact, my choice of consultant was decided by my wife."

The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr(e)𝒆novelkiss